News of: Sunday, 8th of June, 2008

Front Page

In a rare budgetary move, the government yesterday approved a reduced Annual Development Programme (ADP) of Tk 25,600 crore for the next fiscal year (FY09), which is 3.39 percent less than the original ADP of the current fiscal year.

The country is set for an emotional ride when the Kitply Cup tri-nation one-day cricket series kicks off at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur today with Bangladesh taking on Pakistan in the opening match.

The government estimates that the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) will grow by 6.21 percent in the current fiscal year (FY2007-08), despite fears that economic growth might dip as much as one percentage point.

The government plans cultivation of newly invented rice variety-- BRRI Dhan-33 -- on 40,000 hectares of land in five northern districts in the coming Aman season to fight Monga (near-famine situation).

Hillary Rodham Clinton ended her historic campaign for the presidency yesterday and told supporters to unite behind rival Barack Obama, closing out a race that was as gruelling as it was groundbreaking.

Editorial

Remittances from Bangladeshis working overseas might fall over the next two years. And it could happen because of some recent actions taken by countries where we have traditionally exported our manpower. One does not need much wisdom to know how badly off we will all be if such conditions come to pass. Of late our manpower industry has been hit badly by government actions in Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and other places. While we realise that the governments of those countries have the right to formulate their own policies regarding migrant workers from abroad, we also feel that the Bangladesh government should by now have adopted a strong and constructive position regarding our people working there. It is also important that the host countries go through rethinking vis-à-vis their own migrant worker-related policies. It is equally important that any misgivings here be removed at the earliest.

Against the backdrop of reckless driving and tragic deaths under the wheels of vehicles at regular interval, the High Court (HC) had given a ruling on March 10, 2008 making installation of speed governor seals in all modes of motorised vehicles mandatory by March 10, 2009. The HC had also instructed the relevant authorities to publish notices in various newspapers to make the owners of vehicles aware of the ruling, particularly mentioning the provisions therein for punishment for noncompliance. It was expected that relevant authorities would take the HC ruling with due seriousness and start the implementation process without further ado. But, to our knowledge, motor vehicle owners have not yet been notified in any manner about the deadline and the details of the instruction.

The Awami League after an extended meeting of the party on May 26 attended by more than 850 delegates representing almost every tier of their organisation from grass-roots level to the highest echelon, followed by a meeting the next day of the central working committee, the highest decision making body of the party, has decided not to join the ongoing dialogue with out Sheikh Hasina. The decision was unanimous and true reflection of the wishes and sentiments of the party workers and activists. One must admit that the decision, right or wrong, has been taken by the party in a most democratic manner, a practice not so common in the body politic of this country.

How could my fellow-traveller Buddhadeb Bhattacharya call me the worst prime minister India has had? That stung. I rather like Buddha. I know his typea sheep dressed in wolf's clothing. I've done my bit of lip-service to socialism. What option did one have if you wanted some trajectory up the old Congress bureaucracy greasy pole? Indira Gandhi would spread nonalignment at breakfast and turn pink with the salad over lunch: poor dear, no one told her that nationalisation and nationalism are not quite the same thing.

Candidates are often guilty of acting the part the press assigns them. This time last year, the press anointed Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Rudy Giuliani as the two "inevitable nominees." Even after Giuliani flamed out fairly quickly, Hillary continued to wear the label as a badge of honour. Of course, the press did not consult the voters.

Sports

It would not be wise to ask the Tigers whether they want to put end to Pakistan's eleven-match winning streak when they play the Kitply Cup opener against Shoaib Malik's side at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur today.

Michael Ballack has joined in the condemnation of a Polish newspaper whose inflammatory front page, with a mocked-up image of the Chelsea midfielder's severed head, has led to complaints in the German parliament before a game which is threatening to bring discord to Euro 2008.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is keen that the proposed Pakistan Premier League (PPL) has an identity of its own, considering that it will held in the aftermath of the Indian Premier League, and will soon reveal details of the Twenty20 tournament.

Italy star Alessandro Del Piero said he could play in just about any attacking position regardless of formation if that meant securing a starting berth for the world champions' Euro 2008 opener against the Netherlands.

UEFA has given Russia permission to substitute injured striker Pavel Pogrebnyak, Russian media reports said Saturday, indicating a doctor accredited with European football's governing body had signed a statement saying he ought not to play at Euro-2008.

Business

The continuing downward pressure by international buyers on clothing prices is hitting profitability in the Ready Made Garment sector and undermining efforts to improve working conditions, industry leaders have warned.

Ending the monopoly business of legacy airlines, the UAE based low cost airliner Air Arabia is to start flights from Zia International Airport (ZIA) in Dhaka today, a move seen as helping Middle East bound workers to travel at a lower price.

I thank you for meeting with the representatives of the trade & industry of the country organized by the FBCCI on 3rd June. The two hours you spent with the several hundred business delegates, I am sure, were very enlightening and refreshing, though the time was nowhere near enough to hear out all the perspectives and ideas of the business community in relation to the political imperatives ahead. Due to the less than 2-day notice, the business leaders could not present a more coherent and structured deliberation for your consideration. However, as the leader of the nation's software and information technology services industry an industry on which the future growth of the nation's economy is inexorably intertwined I feel the measures described below are the crying needs of the hour.

Though the legal experts have hailed the Government Attorney Service Ordinance 2008, the state law officers of the Supreme Court (SC) have strongly protested the promulgation of the Ordinance under which the Government Attorney Department has been set up for dealing with cases in courts and performing other duties on behalf of the state.

Former chief adviser Justice Muhammad Habibur Rahman at a publication ceremony of a book yesterday said Bangladesh should take lessons from Japan's policies regarding agriculture to achieve food security in the country.

Awami League central leaders yesterday placed wreaths at the portrait of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum and stood in silence for a minute in observance of the historic 7th June commemorating the six-point movement seeking full autonomy of erstwhile East Pakistan.

National

Law enforcement agencies rescued 71 people from traffickers on Rajshahi borders only in four drives in three weeks, sending a warning that trafficking has increased alarmingly in north-western frontiers.

More than 5,000 CNG-run autorickshaws run in Bogra municipal area and on the highways in the district without valid documents, according to a preliminary survey report of Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) here.

Speakers at a meeting held here yesterday urged members of district legal aid committee, journalists, representatives of NGOs and local government bodies to come forward to motivate poor people so that they can seek justice for which government enacted law and sanctioned money.

Letters

It is a common practice in Bangladesh to censure the authorities for everything and demand that the government quit. Now the most talked about issue is the price hike. The prices of the essentials are rising almost every day. The prices of most of the food products have doubled in less than a year. But to overcome this crisis as a nation, we have to think deeply about this matter and analyse the reasons behind the price hike. If we take a look at the international arena we will see that the food prices have ascended globally in a brief period of time. Japan is looking for alternate flour because of the rising wheat price. India, Vietnam and Egypt have put constraints on exporting rice to meet the local demand. The Philippines has announced a ban on converting farmland to other uses in order to cut import of rice. It has to be realised that the food price predicament is global. Cheap local political solutions do not really exist.

The recent incident at CU is very shocking, where a student jumped from an over-bridge onto a train, failed to reach the train, fell on the rail lines and eventually died. What the students did in response to this incident is also very shameful. May be, at first they could not know the reason behind his death. Here, in Bangladesh, if anything happens against the rights of the university students or anything they don't seem to like, they vandalise vehicles, harass commuters etc. They never seem to understand that they are destroying our national property.

We heartily congratulate Barack Obama for clinching the Democratic Presidential nomination. History has been made and we hope that he will reach another milestone by becoming president of the United States. We also congratulate the people of America for choosing Barack Obama, they have shown great wisdom.

Sustainable development is possible only when the development workers have two attributes.1. Skill2. HonestyOur country is developing with highways, multi-storied buildings, mills, factories. But the development will not be sustainable without skill and honesty.

Too often we say, “Past is past” while referring to some unpleasant memory, meaning that it is better to think about the present & the future. If we scale down a little more we can even feel comfortable to keep aside the present and seriously think about the future. As a nation what is there in the future for us? Our motherland is the most densely populated country in the world and one of the poorest too. After the agricultural products, we are surviving on garments and manpower export. The first one is unpredictable as weather & other natural calamities are major factors that determine the output and the second one is already suffering due to destructive activities. The third sector i.e. manpower export is also experiencing setbacks, the most recent one being in Bahrain that halted employment of Bangladeshi workers following a crime, a solitary case that has now affected all Bangladeshis working in that country. The government of Saudi Arabia where about 15 lakh Bangladeshis are currently living, has also stopped issuing residential permits creating deportation fear in thousands of Bangladeshi workers there. Our import dependent economy is facing daily challenges from rising oil prices which may hit 200 dollars a barrel at the year end. Above all, if the present pace of global warming continues unchecked, one fifth of Bangladesh will go under the sea by 2050, making 20 million people landless & homeless.

We heartily appreciate the most practical and appropriate speech by Dr. Kamal Hossain that was published in The Daily Star of May 31. We observe that some political leaders are regarded as “Goddess” by some political parties. They think the law of the country cannot be imposed on them, they are above trial and enjoy immunity.

It seems our politicians are not interested in any smooth transition to democracy. They have put their carts before the horses. They want their leaders out of jail before anything else, no matter what happens to the nation. They do not like dialogue, they have now patched up their differences with their rival parties, they are becoming united for a “sangram”. We are surprised to note that even yesterday's arch enemies are demanding release of their rival leaders. The friends and foes are uniting themselves to take us, probably, to the era of pre-one-eleven.

I have read with great interest the article on "Saving the coral biodiversity of St. Martin's Island." Congratulations to the author, Dr. Md. M. Maruf Hossain. I should like to make my own contribution to our knowledge of the fauna of the island, collected on a one-week scientific expedition to the island led by the late Professor M.I. Choudhury of Dhaka College in 1957. I made a collection of marine nematodes, two of which were new to science: Theristus sanctimarteni Timm 1958 and Monhystrella marina Timm 1964 (the only marine species of the genus).

We are students of Islamic University, Kushtia. It was established on November 22, 1979 at Kushtia for the combination and co-ordination of different branches of education of humanities and modern science with the Islamic education and promote research on modern branches of education and to develop a new curriculum of modem education based on ethical and moral values of Islam. There are twenty departments with an institute and near about ten thousand students (Muslims, Hindus, Christians, Buddhists etc ) in this University.

Niketon under Gulshan 1 has emerged with a habitation of 3,500 families approximately. The apartments are posh with the habitation of mostly service holders at the offices located at Gulshan, Baridhara, and DOHS.

One would hardly find a diplomat other than the immediate past British High Commissioner Anwar Chowdhury receiving so much coverage in both print and electronic media in Bangladesh. Still articles and videos highlighting his social activities are coming out in different media. Mr. Chowdhury recently left Dhaka ending his four-year diplomatic assignment in Bangladesh.

I am an undergraduate student at the department of English in a private university. As a student, I have always noticed a kind of inferiority complex among the students of my department and that is, they have a feeling that with a graduation degree in English there is hardly any possibility of getting a good job in the present job market, since all the employers are looking for MBA holders, not English “literature” people. However, to my opinion this is one of the wrong ideas that people have about the students of English language and literature. Why? Let's have a look at the following points:

The Chief Adviser and the army chief duly praised the good work done by the country's peace corps which took part in missions abroad. The CA also took the opportunity of mentioning the armed forces' contribution to the nation from time to time.

People of Bangladesh are not at all surprised to see Mr. Tofail Ahmed's reaction, as expressed in the print and electronic media, to the recent filing of a corruption case by the ACC against him. The typical way he has reacted is well known to our people. All charges of corruption against our politicians are always 'false and fabricated'. He also hinted that it was a politically motivated case. His political colleagues spared no time to give him a clean chit and urged upon the government to withdraw the case unconditionally. That's what they all had been doing for the last sixteen years. Politicians in our country fail to arrive at agreements on issues related to the welfare of the people. But they take no time to come out in a body, like the members of a trade union, with full force to save their colleagues whenever anyone of them is charged with a corruption case. Can we ask them a simple question: If all of them are innocent as flowers, as it is commonly uttered in political slogans, then who did the corruption in the last sixteen years ? Who were responsible to place Bangladesh on the top of the TI's list of corrupt states for years together ? And, finally, why should the ACC, a non-political independent organisation, file 'false and fabricated' corruption cases against Mr. Tofail and other politicians ? Will any politician be kind enough to answer these questions ?

Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka, engaged in fierce gun-battles with security forces in the island nation's embattled north, want India to intervene to halt the clashes between the warring sides, a leading daily here has claimed.

Relations between the United States military and the Pakistan Army are at their worst point since September 11, 2001, senior Western military officers and diplomats have said, as Pakistani troops withdraw from Tribal Areas bordering Afghanistan.

With five months to go for the US Presidential election, presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama and Republican John McCain are locked in a statistical dead heat with more than one in five voters acknowledging that they might change their mind between now and November, an opinion poll showed.

Water flowed slowly into a manmade spillway yesterday from a swollen lake formed by a landslide in China's devastating earthquake, easing the immediate threat of a flood that had led to the evacuation of more than 250,000 people.

Nearly two weeks after its historic landing, the US Mars probe Phoenix has scooped up its first sample of Martian soil and begun analysing it for water and organic compounds, a Nasa official said Friday.

Just three weeks before Zimbabwe's presidential runoff, Robert Mugabe is giving the opposition little room to campaign detaining its candidate, banning rallies and attacking diplomats who try to investigate political violence.

Arts & Entertainment

As a cartoonist artist Shishir Bhattacharjee has attained popularity for his sharp satire on contemporary social milieu, especially the political turmoil. In his drawings and paintings also Shishir has pointed out the disorders of the society.

Veteran Tagore artiste Kalim Sharafi turned 85 on May 8. To celebrate his birth anniversary, music school Sangeet Bhaban organised a cultural programme titled "Anondo omritey tobo chirodin dhonyo hobo" at Natmandal on June 6. Kalim Sharafi, who founded Sangeet Bhaban in 1983, is also the principal of the school. The programme featured Tagore songs and dance performance by the students of the organisation.

Paritran, an NGO based at Laxmanpur village in Tala upazila, has dedicated itself to fighting for the rights of the Dalits and other disadvantaged people. Several months ago, the organisation embarked on an innovative cultural programme to generate awareness among the ultra poor Dalits and uneducated so that they can participate in the ongoing national identity card and voter listing (with photographs) drive.

OP-ED

ALEXANDER the Great: "Pirate, what is your idea in infesting the sea?" The Pirate: "The same as yours in infesting the earth! But because I do it with a small craft, I'm called a pirate; because you have a mighty navy, you're called an emperor."

FOR Barack Obama's team, Tuesday was a day unlike any other primary day. Gone were the normal nerves about the final results, the shared leaks of exit polls and the memories of dashed expectations in previous contests.

Star City

The detailed area plan (DAP) for Dhaka metropolitan city is likely to serve certain coterie interests and go in favour of the influential housing developers because of delay in finalising the plan, said noted urban experts and environmentalists.